Tag: Freddy versus Jason

Last Halloween I achieved a minor life aim, watching the complete Nightmare on Elm Street series in a row. Even Freddy Vs Jason? Yes. So, what was the result? Well, the third and final part of this blog for the 30th anniversary year to begin with…

TO RECAP FROM THE FIRST TWO PARTS: IT WAS A FORTUITOUS DELIVERY THAT FOUND ITS WAY OVER THE ATLANTIC TO MY YOUNGER SELF THAT KICK-STARTED THE NIGHTMARATHON OF EVERY ORIGINAL RUN FREDDY FILM AT HALLOWEEN 2013. A stash of bubble-gum cards, comedy taglines and horrifically compelling images. In a long-awaited retrospective I re-discovered the first film, Wes Craven’s master class in bringing real fear and real supernatural to the slasher genre… then a franchise that went through peaks and troughs of an increasingly convoluted mythology. Once the ‘son of a hundred maniacs escaped his family, even signing on to a film titled ‘Freddy’s Dead’ in 3d couldn’t do him in. In this final part of the retrospective, there are three distinct films across three decades. These could well be the franchise’s pledge, turn and prestige…

“Seven…” Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)

A shadow would soon fall over New Nightmare of course. The shadow of Ghostface, bulked up by the Scream franchise. Now, Wes Craven’s other saga is bloated with a belated fourth entry, but it had already become synonymous with post-modern horror. Scream may have been the shot in the arm that slasher films needed in the 1990s, but it also inexorably created the recent wave of horror remakes, including 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.

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Last Halloween I achieved a minor life aim, watching the complete Nightmare on Elm Street series in a row. Even Freddy versus Jason? Yes. So, what was the result? Well, the second part of this blog for the 30th anniversary to begin with…

TO RECAP FROM THE FIRST PART: IT WAS A FORTUITOUS DELIVERY THAT FOUND ITS WAY OVER THE ATLANTIC TO MY YOUNGER SELF THAT KICK-STARTED THE NIGHTMARATHON OF EVERY ORIGINAL RUN FREDDY FILM AT HALLOWEEN 2013. A stash of bubblegum cards, comedy taglines and horrifically compelling images. In a long-awaited retrospective I re-discovered the first film, Wes Craven’s masterclass in bringing real fear and real supernatural to the slasher genre; the mis-step of a sequel that tried too hard and; the third, sublime showcase of talent that brought us structure, a set up for the franchise to expand in and that marionette sequence to boot. So some victims escaped the third instalment – what would happen to Kirsten and co next..?

As often happens, the smart moves of the second sequel weren’t quite built on with the follow-up. It wasn’t immediately wasted, and there’s certainly no lack of trying… Talent was high once again, with Renny Harlin coming in to direct and Brian Helgeland co-scripting– using a pen with Mystic River and LA Confidential in its future. But it wasn’t quite the same in front of the camera. Patricia Arquette’s departure as Kristen particularly disconcerting as the series instalments become more interconnected.

There’s an attempt to keep up the ideals of the third part though, with an opening quote from the Book of Job (I mean, this was pre-Google, so good effort) and immediate, dream-state return to the original house in a dream-state. Part four is a return to basics, but throws up the interesting additions like the daydreaming Alice, the proper return to high school and the capacity for Freddy to expand his empire. Consolidating that Elm Street house as an implied base for the slasher also works as a shrewd and deliberate attempt to write part two out of the franchise. That’s hardly unusual in a long-running series, nor is the fact that any inherited characters are sadly… Quickly killed off (a lean 37 minutes to be precise; one of Freddy’s most efficient sprees). Continue reading “Halloween Horror: Nightmare on Elm Street – “In that Sleep of Death…””